THE INDIVIDUAL DIVERSITY OF OUR SOLOISTS

The virtuosi performing with the Wiener Symphoniker this season combine technical brilliance with deeply personal musical storytelling. Chinese pianist Yuja Wang is an artist of extraordinary expressive power, which she demonstrates in Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto together with Chief Conductor Petr Popelka. Barber also features in the programme of a regular artistic partner of the Wiener Symphoniker, Spanish violinist María Dueñas. Equally expressive - and always in search of her own profoundly felt narratives -is violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who will present her composition Five Dreams and also perform music by Shostakovich. An evening of emotional extremes.

A rarely featured solo instrument takes centre stage with saxophonist Asya Fateyeva, who showcases the versatility of her artistry in John Psathas’s concerto Zahara.

This season also presents an impressive line-up of pianists: Leif Ove Andsnes performs Britten’s Piano Concerto (under Elim Chan), Alexandra Dovgan appears in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 (under Robin Ticciati), Mao Fujita introduces a new piano concerto by Toshio Hosokawa (under Petr Popelka), and Francesco Piemontesi brings Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor.

Three cellists appear as guests of the Wiener Symphoniker this season: Julia Hagen (Britten), Kian Soltani (Haydn), and Anastasia Kobekina (Schumann), each unfolding entirely different sound worlds in their performances.